Kriti Class 8 Chapter 2, One Stage, Many Scripts, explores playwriting—how ideas become structured scripts for the stage, play scripts in ancient India, script formats and dramatic genres.
What Kriti Class 8 Chapter 2 Covers
Scripts for stage: every performance starts with a script, a written work meant for stage, film or television. Scripts vary in structure: one-act plays of 10–30 minutes built on one conflict, two-act plays with a turning point in the middle, the three-act setup–confrontation–resolution used in films, plots told in linear, cyclical or non-linear order, and adapted scripts drawn from novels, poems or history.
Play scripts in ancient India: drama was called rūpa or rūpaka, and writers used the term dṛiśhya kāvya (visible poetry), so every Sanskrit playwright was also a poet.
Daśha Rūpaka, the ten types in the Nāṭyaśhāstra: Nāṭaka (5–10 acts on kings or divine beings), Prakaraṇa (up to 10 acts, an invented social plot), Bhāṇa (one act about rogues), Prahasana (one-act comedy), Ḍima (four acts on Devas and Asuras), Vyāyoga (one-act heroic tale), Samavakāra (3–4 acts on Devas and Asuras), Aṅka (one act in karuṇa rasa), Īhāmṛga (four acts mixing Purāṇic story and fiction) and Vīthī (one act, 2–3 characters, any location). The Nāṭyaśhāstra says the first script ever written was a Samavakāra by Brahma, based on the Amṛita Manthana.
Genres: writing is grouped by style and content into genres such as comedy, tragedy, fantasy, mystery and historical drama, often mixed. Activity 2.1 has groups write the same idea as a dialogue, a monologue and other script types, and Activity 2.2 sorts sample passages by genre.
Exercises in Chapter 2
- Circle Time discussion prompts and Assessment rubrics at the end of the chapter.
Read Kriti Class 8 Chapter 2 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 1: Bringing Words Alive — Play Reading
- Next: Chapter 3: From Page to Stage — Theatre-Making
- All Art chapters and the other Class 8 books: Class 8 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
What is Daśha Rūpaka?
The ten types of drama described in the Nāṭyaśhāstra, including Nāṭaka, Prakaraṇa, Bhāṇa, Prahasana and Samavakāra.
What was the first script according to the Nāṭyaśhāstra?
A Samavakāra written by Brahma, based on the churning of the ocean (Amṛita Manthana).